Harvesting leafy vegetable plants typically involves moving a harvester (e.g., an automated harvester) across a field under the guidance of an operator steering the harvester and visually inspecting plants that are harvested from the field for contamination by other personnel riding on the harvester. Sunlight and warm temperatures during the daytime can cause some leafy vegetable plants (e.g., baby green vegetable plants) to become tender and pliable and to wilt, rendering a stature of the plants as less than optimal for cutting by a harvester. Accordingly, harvesting operations are often performed on some leafy vegetable plants at night, when the plants are stiffer and tend to stand taller and more erect. As a harvester moves along a field during a harvesting operation, an operator looks ahead of the harvester to scan the field for contaminated plants. In some cases, personnel may walk the field before the harvesting operation (e.g., during the daytime) to search for contaminated plants. The personnel may mark the contaminated plants (e.g., with flags or other markers) so that the operator is alerted to the contaminated plants during a subsequent harvesting operation.
If the operator of the harvester recognizes contaminated plants, then the operator may attempt to avoid harvesting the contaminated plants by steering the harvester around the contaminated plants to prevent the cutter from contacting the contaminated plants. Limited visibility in the dark can sometimes result in contaminated plants being overlooked or in contaminated plants being identified too slowly, such that the contaminated plants are cut by the harvester. If the operator or the personnel riding on the harvester discover that contaminated plants have been harvested, then the contaminated plants are discarded and the harvester has to be shut down and decontaminated (e.g., disinfected or sterilized) before harvesting can resume. Similarly, if contaminated plants are discovered at a processing plant (e.g., post-harvest), then the contaminated plants and all in-process plants are discarded and a processing line has to be shut down and decontaminated. Such contamination incidents occurring at a harvester or at a processing line can result in costly expenses and significant dangers to food safety.